Stirring Histories - detail 2024

PUNQ Festival - POP UP NORTH QLD

Out front of TYTO Regional Art Gallery

73-75 Mcilwraith St, Ingham QLD

Running from 1 – 18 August 2024

Hills Hoist clothesline, salvaged souvenir t-spoons & steel

302 x 400cm

Stirring Histories is a site specific and kinetic artwork which takes audiences on a journey through layered narratives of the north Queensland Sugar Cane industry, through the very recognisable and kitsch implement that serves as a conduit to history, the commemorative spoon. This new commission interrogates the essence of colonial exploration and reflects on Australiana, where remnants of a bygone era that once commemorated and paid homage, now overflow, and find themselves in op-shops or scrap metal heaps. Amidst this collection, kitsch enamel souvenir teaspoons emerge as poignant relics, stirring the sugar into our welcoming cuppas and prompting contemplation of the past.

These souvenir teaspoons, adorned with celebrations of towns, events, and centenaries, often conceal dark histories just beneath their surface. They serve as unravelling mediums to the intricate layers of the past, intertwined with the 'blackbirding' practices, where South Sea Islander slaves were coerced into labour in early Australia and the Italian migrant grim realities of the sugar industry's experience weaved with La Mano Nera The Black Hand Mafia stories.  To this day Pacific labour is still exploited.

 View the full program and Art Trail map at punq.org.au.

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PUNQ is produced by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts. The festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. Townsville City Council is a funding partner of PUNQ.